Matt Vensel's Monday morning NFL power rankings

Pictures of the Ravens game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17.

Matt VenselThe Baltimore Sun

Every Monday morning, the day after my favorite day of the week but still hours before that week’s slate of games officially wraps up with “Monday Night Football,” I will bring you my weekly premature NFL power rankings.

Why Monday? Because who wants to wait until Tuesday or Wednesday for power rankings?

Why 11 teams? I don’t really have a good answer for that one. I’ve always liked odd numbers.

What am I basing them on? Who my gut tells me are the toughest teams to beat that week.

Why isn’t my team on the list!?!?! Take a deep breath and try not to take these too seriously.

1. New York Giants (last week -- 2): The Giants made things more interesting than they should have been Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, but they now have a three-win cushion in the division.

2.Houston Texans (1): They had a bye week after their 30-point win over the Ravens. I bet the week is a lot more enjoyable when you are on the winning end of a lopsided game like that.

3.Atlanta Falcons (3): After a week of inactivity, the Falcons got off to a fast start in Philly and handed it to the Eagles. Their offense gets all of the pub, but their defense is pretty strong, too.

4. San Francisco 49ers (4): They play the Arizona Cardinals tonight. No offense to the 49ers, but I’m not sure I would choose to watch that if a hurricane wasn’t trapping me inside the house.

5. Chicago Bears (5): Another game, another interception returned for a touchdown. What's that? Six in seven games? This is getting ridiculous. The latest came at the expense of Cam Newton.

6. Denver Broncos (8):Peyton Manning is back, but so is the Denver defense. If the Broncos can play stout defense like they did during Tebow Time, the Broncos will be hard to beat in January.